Garda helicopter watching me? Opinions

Stevegeraghty

So I was out this morning for quick pre work shoot with my shooting buddy and the mut and the garda helicopter came along and sat above us watching for a good 20 mins or so, I know it doesn't seem like long but it felt like ages
It made us very uneasy, like we were doing something wrong!

I was thinking of ringing my FAO to see if there might have been a complaint or were they just out for a spin?
I said I see what people's opinions were before I ring, I'd hate to think I'm upsetting any neighbours

Vegeta

Could have been them on an exercise and decided to use you as their subject :pac:

I'd call and make sure everything was ok.

Pappa Charlie

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

So I was out this morning for quick pre work shoot with my shooting buddy and the mut and the garda helicopter came along and sat above us watching for a good 20 mins or so, I know it doesn't seem like long but it felt like ages
It made us very uneasy, like we were doing something wrong!

I was thinking of ringing my FAO to see if there might have been a complaint or were they just out for a spin?
I said I see what people's opinions were before I ring, I'd hate to think I'm upsetting any neighbours

Chances are someone made a call about people with firearms, it's likely a patrol car checked out your car if it was nearby and saw that you were a licenced firearm holder and it all added up ok. Helicopter would have confirmed you were hunting in the meantime! It would be a pity if someone was found with a bullet in their head in the field in a weeks time and they didn't check it out!

Stevegeraghty

I walked from the house so no car to check, the old lad reckons they were just looking to see if we got anything!!
Pity, 2 woodies flew between us and them, obviously we didn't take the shot!!

charlie10

if u were doing something wrong they would of stayed watching ye until ye got to a road where ye would of been met by gardai,i think they were just checking ye out as they were passing . had ye shots left off before they came ?

Pappa Charlie

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

I walked from the house so no car to check, the old lad reckons they were just looking to see if we got anything!!
Pity, 2 woodies flew between us and them, obviously we didn't take the shot!!

Maybe they are into a but of hunting as well !

Grizzly 45

So long as the ERU werent called out because of some Biddy Curtaintwitcher yarking down the phone to the Gaurds about "Terrorists in camoflage with machine guns shooting wildlife." [As one did in the UK] you 're grand!:cool:

Stevegeraghty

charlie10 wrote: »

if u were doing something wrong they would of stayed watching ye until ye got to a road where ye would of been met by gardai,i think they were just checking ye out as they were passing . had ye shots left off before they came ?

Yea we were on the way home to the house, suppose between the 2 of us we fired about 10 shots, wasn't too early either, about 9 o'clock!
I was hoping they would stay with me till we got home but they left with only one field to go!

Vegeta

The nerd in me would love to see them land and have a chat about the helicopter and what equipment was on it. Tis a days shooting ya wouldn't forget, maybe ask for a few pictures "Lads you'll never believe what I brought down today. 200 yards up with a 32 gram 6, I swear"

Cass

Just ignore it.

Only yesterday, and it's not the first or the last time it'll happen, i was coming back across a field with my mate and Father after being out for a few bunnies. About 400 yards from the jeep a squad car pulled up behind the jeep. The jeep was parked facing into the field with the road running behind it. They sat their for about 2 minutes, and as we got within 80 - 100 yards of the jeep/squad car they took off.

Now usually their MO is to go down the road, and within 2 minutes come back to talk. However they did not. Anytime this has happened to me they normally wait or come back and just ask names, our business (d'uh), and on rare occasions ask for licenses. This time he probably ran or made note of the reg number then just went on.

Main thing is once you have permission and valid licenses relax. There is not a thing they can do or say. Unfortunately it's a trait i've seen, and when younger suffered from myself. Automatic nervousness around An Gardaí. Not anymore more though.

Tawny Owl

As put in other posts if they wanted to talk to you they would have, it can help them in training, ie using the camra / hovering and were just looking I would not be in a panic, and well done on not firing when you seen something.;)

syklops

How were you dressed?

tomtucker81

I would say they were just having a look. If they genuinely thought you to be doing anything wrong you would have been watched until a patrol car crew got to the area.
No need to be nervous about them if you are all in order with permission and licences etc, it is their job to be nosey and ask questions/have a look sometimes!

jmrc

happened me before, came out of the house after remembering to lock in the chickens... house lights were all off... pulled out a big search lamp i have and just checked around a field over the house, never heard the chopper over head next thing the big search light came on right down on me.... I just waved and pointed at the chickens... they fecxed off...

true story...

4200fps

I seen on Sky the cops in the chopper in England can fly that high that people below cant hear them and they still have great image quality on their camera.

mrbrianj

Hopefully an anti poaching operation, or christmas tree robbery surveillance.

Comforting to know that AGS are on station. Only ones that should be worried are law breakers.

I know you would be worried of running foul of someone complaining because they don't like the idea of somebody shooting. But you were observed acting correctly- so no worries

bradnailer

Waiting to see if you dug up any cash!

cookimonster

Don't worry about it.
We shoot in the Dublin / Wicklow foot hills where your just outside of villages and residential areas. We've had the GS helicopter buzz us a few times while out lamping.
A freindly wave and tumbs up on our behave is norm. Nothing has ever come of it.

rowa

There does be around four military helicopters and the gardai helicopter (along with half the army in green jeeps) used when there is major movement of cash in or out of the central bank mint in Sandyford. The military whirlybirds circle the perimeter of the mint but the gardai helicopter stands off some distance away, i presume videoing the entire process. There was a movement yesterday, were you walking the dogs near ticknock or around there ?

pedroeibar1

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

So I was out this morning ...... and the garda helicopter came along and sat above us watching for a good 20 mins or so, .....

Sounds like the Marvin Boggs paranoid character played by Malkovich in RED.

Marvin Boggs: Frank. Frank, it's that helicopter!
Sarah Ross: We're in an airport... (helicopter then fires shots through window).

It probably was pilot training, you often see the SAR chopper try to keep station with a moving ship, or practice a hover near a cliff in windy conditions. It is disconcerting when shooting, I once found it freaky shooting near Shannon when the Gulf War troops were flying out - the planes were way out of range but it really ruined my swing!

I’m not sure if it is still being used, but in an AGS training video for drugs interception & search at sea, I’m the guy with a very astonished expression on his face. I was going about my business on the boat one day when a passing RIB suddenly changed course and came screaming over to me, two ninja-like guys jump onto the deck and one says ‘Don’t worry, we’re just filming a training video, you don’t mind if we use this bit, do you?’ I’d nothing to hide but it still frightened the crap out of me!

Helicopters have a very adverse affect on birds, both wild and pen-reared. I’d prefer that they go nowhere near ours.

Stevegeraghty

I'm on the flight path to Kilbride baricks so helicopters have always been a part of our life, they pass very low over the house every day,also the Garda one is always around too
But this time they were deffo watching, I've nothing to hide its just a little ery when you know your been watched, they could prob have seen the colours of our eyes

One shot on kill

I do some shooting up around that direction and I actually can't go up with out seeing a chopper.

Infairness. They were prob looking down saying " who's that mad **** out in that wind and rain"

fiacha

If the helo was over you, it's unlikely that they were watching you. their optics allow them to hold off quiet a distance. My house is about about .5 mile (as crow flies) from an area where stolen cars are often driven. The helo tends to hover , turn over our estate while watching the other area. It's feckin annoying.

Pappa Charlie

Given what happened in Glasgow with the police helicopter and seeing as the garda one is the same make I'd be very uncomfortable with it hovering over me!

martin s

Vegeta wrote: »

The nerd in me would love to see them land and have a chat about the helicopter and what equipment was on it. Tis a days shooting ya wouldn't forget, maybe ask for a few pictures "Lads you'll never believe what I brought down today. 200 yards up with a 32 gram 6, I swear"

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

EWQuinn

Don't worry. Someday they will just use drones, and you won't even have to be bothered by knowing they are watching you.

Cass

EWQuinn wrote: »

Someday they will just use drones,..........

Read the above and thought of this:

Grizzly 45

EWQuinn wrote: »

Don't worry. Someday they will just use drones, and you won't even have to be bothered by knowing they are watching you.

Not beyond the realms of fantasy. Some anti hunting group used one in the US to observe a pigeon shoot on private grounds.It unfortunatly got in the way of some shotgun pellets and crash landed.This has now opened a new debate now about "private airspace",as some law enforcement depts were using them for rural and neighbourhood surveillance and clainming that "proable cause" didnt exist in this case.
70 quid gets you in Maplin a pretty good little remote control chopper with an inbuilt micro cam that would be strong enough to get a good view of what your next door neighbour is up to. About 2 grand will get you a basic surveillance quad copter with real time footage and GPS enablement to fly to a location and return.
Big brother has now become airborne.:(

Pappa Charlie

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Not beyond the realms of fantasy. Some anti hunting group used one in the US to observe a pigeon shoot on private grounds.It unfortunatly got in the way of some shotgun pellets and crash landed.This has now opened a new debate now about "private airspace",as some law enforcement depts were using them for rural and neighbourhood surveillance and clainming that "proable cause" didnt exist in this case.
70 quid gets you in Maplin a pretty good little remote control chopper with an inbuilt micro cam that would be strong enough to get a good view of what your next door neighbour is up to. About 2 grand will get you a basic surveillance quad copter with real time footage and GPS enablement to fly to a location and return.
Big brother has now become airborne.:(

Sure we're all micro chipped anyway!

EWQuinn

In the future no need to clock into work. You will be micro chipped and your every move will be measured and controlled. No bad behaviors or unhealthy practices allowed. Much work will be increasingly done from home where there will be minimal privacy.

On the job you will be tied to the project management activity network where your work will be budgeted, controlled and monitored on 15 minute time steps. In school, special education teachers, or the school computer's DSS "teacher aide program" will have a control panel to modify the behavior of challenging students in real time.

Drones will hover over us, tied into our micro chip networks, making sure there is no hanky panky going on and everyone is in conformity. Its a wonderful world! :rolleyes:

tomtucker81

Your description of work seems accurate enough for nowadays anyway.
Just gotta monitor schools now....

bravestar

EWQuinn wrote: »

In the future no need to clock into work. You will be micro chipped and your every move will be measured and controlled. No bad behaviors or unhealthy practices allowed. Much work will be increasingly done from home where there will be minimal privacy.

On the job you will be tied to the project management activity network where your work will be budgeted, controlled and monitored on 15 minute time steps. In school, special education teachers, or the school computer's DSS "teacher aide program" will have a control panel to modify the behavior of challenging students in real time.

Drones will hover over us, tied into our micro chip networks, making sure there is no hanky panky going on and everyone is in conformity. Its a wonderful world! :rolleyes:

Closer than you think, in work I'm already GPS tracked and monitored in real time, as is the vehicle I'm in if in one.

rowa

Shatter lives in ballinteer, they are probabily keeping an eye on his place.

TheBoffin

If it was something to do with you then chances are you would have heard about it by now.

Most likely they were either monitoring a nearby road as choppers often use the road network to navigate or they could have been testing/calibrating the IR cam or other equipment and you were possibly the first people they spotted to use as testing material.